Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the Chatterbox Challenge, a challenge thrown out to people around Townsville and around Australia to help raise funds and awareness for people living with disabilities. It is sponsored by a group of seven charities: the Spinal Industry Association, UnitingCare, Cerebral Palsy League, Life Without Barriers, Centrecare, Multicap and Endeavour Foundation. I was asked by Verena Coome from the Endeavour Foundation in Townsville to be an ambassador for it. I said, 'No problems, what will it take?' She said, 'It will take you to not speak for a day.' Well, how they laughed.

I did it on Friday. I went one entire day without speaking. In the process, I raised over $3,000 for these charities. My family and my office all believe that there should be a Chatterbox Challenge for a week, maybe a year, a decade—they are all in favour of that.

To my donors, I say thank you very much, and to those small businesses and to Senator Scott Ryan, with whom I spent most of the day on Friday, who took great delight in asking me questions that I could not answer with a shrug. I would like to mention one particular business. I do not want to name them so I will only use their initials: Kylie Church Laird and Andrew Laird of Betty Blue and the Lemon Tart, who kept asking me if I would like something more. They said, 'If you will just say something Ewen, we will come on board.' It is a great cause, we were pleased to have helped out. (Time expired)